Politics

Steve Moore Withdraws From Consideration For Fed Board

Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
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Conservative economic commentator Steve Moore is withdrawing from consideration for the Federal Reserve Board, President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday.

Trump first announced his intention to nominate Moore, who co-founded the Club for Growth and served as a top economic adviser on the Trump campaign, in March. After several Republican senators revealed concerns about Moore’s old comments about women’s sports, however, Trump announced that Moore was dropping out of the process.

“Steve Moore, a great pro-growth economist and a truly fine person, has decided to withdraw from the Fed process,” Trump tweeted. “Steve won the battle of ideas including Tax Cuts and deregulation which have proceeded non-inflationary prosperity for all Americans.”

In a letter to the president announcing his withdrawal, Moore wrote, “Your confidence in me makes what I am about to say much harder.  I am respectfully asking that you withdraw my name from consideration.  The unrelenting attacks on my character have become untenable for me and my family and 3 more months of this would be too hard on us.”

In April, CNN published an article dinging Moore for a series of columns he wrote for National Review Magazine in the early 2000s. The articles, which Moore called a “spoof,” mocked women’s sports and said female announcers should be banned from NCAA basketball games.

Moore told The Daily Caller that the article amounted to “character assassination,” stating, “They can’t defeat me based on my qualifications or my economic ideas.”

At the time Moore said he planned on staying in consideration, however, he also declared he would drop out if his nomination could damage the reelection chances of Republican senators. (RELATED: Trump Fed Pick Stephen Moore Responds To ‘Character Assassination’)

Media outlets continued to raise questions about Moore’s views on women and his divorce from his ex-wife. The Guardian claimed Moore was underpaying his ex-wife thousands in alimony. A source familiar with the situation told the Caller that Moore and his ex-wife are on friendly terms.

Trump was also considering former presidential candidate and businessman Herman Cain for the Fed Board, but Cain withdrew in late April when old sexual harassment allegations against him resurfaced.

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